Establishing the Relationship between Turbidity and Total Suspended Sediment Concentration

Abstract

This laboratory work examines the relationship between turbidity (NTU) and total suspended sediment concentration (TSS, mg/L) for a Cecil Ap soil, a common Southeastern Piedmont soil type. We show a 1:1 correlation between NTU and TSS for the silt and clay fractions, but a smaller ratio for clay and bulk-soil samples. These results suggest that NTU measurements can be used to estimate sediment concentrations for fine soil fractions, but underestimates the total sediment concentration when sand-size fractions are present.